After the Giants
by Elsa Kenobi
Summary: The Giants may have left Cloister crippled and broken and we know how that ends, but what about Crawe and his family? How did they end after he died what about his sister and the little secrets he hid from Elmont in particular? Please give it a shot and let me know what you think. Pretty please with cherries on top...
1. Chapter 1

**FIRST FANFIC! Be nice please...**

**So I've only seen another one with Crawe having a sister, but I didn't like the fact that she kept him alive. So here's my attempt:  
Enjoy:**

**Elmont POV:**

Of course it would have to rain now of all times, every element in existence being against me right now. What could I have possibly done to warrant such hatred from the world?

"Alright we've done enough for tonight. I want to see each and every one of you in the square tomorrow morning an hour after dawn, we have a lot to do." There were groans and mutters from all my men. "Put it this way men, the sooner the city is re-built and fully functional again the sooner we all get our sinfully long lie-in after the celebration the king is intending to throw when everything is complete." There were cheers and the men all filed off to either their homes or back to the barracks. I turned to make my way to the castle but a movement behind one of the stacks of wood caught my eye. There was nobody there when I went over but a cloak corner disappearing around the corner made me run after it. The person I was running after also ran faster but I just didn't have the energy to run after them anymore and the rain was starting to go down the back of my cloak and under my armour which wasn't the most comfortable of things I had ever experienced and I now couldn't wait to get my armour off.

The castle looked a sorry sight. With various pieces of masonry and windows knocked out of place. The line of rooms mine was on had mercifully been left undamaged by the giants' attack so I could go in and just flop down into the huge wingchair near the hearth. Some kind person had got a fire going and had left some bread cheese and fruit out on the table near, and a huge glass of red wine right next to the fire probably nice and warm by now as well. I would have to thank Marianne when I saw her next since she was undoubtedly the one to have done all this.

There was a knock at the door as soon as I had gotten out of my clothes and half-dressed into sleepwear but before I could answer or pull a shirt on it opened and a young maid was stood there. She gasped when she caught sight of me and whipped round while I hurriedly pulled on a tunic to sleep in.

"Sir Elmont, the King requires your immediate presence." She announced quietly.

"Did he say what for?" I asked and took a gulp of wine.

"No sir. Only that he wanted to see you in his throne room." I grabbed a cloak from the stand near the door and pulled it round myself.

"I shouldn't keep him waiting then. Thank you Mary." I smiled kindly down at her, she blushed and her eyes travelled shyly up my torso. She smiled and turned to run down the corridor. "Oh and thank your mother for the food!" I yelled. She yelled back that she would and I turned to go to the king's chambers.

He was sat on his throne when I entered and did not look best pleased. "Where have you been?"  
He demanded and stood to advance towards me.

"I came as quickly as I could your majesty. Mary only just told me you wanted to see me." He nodded once sharply and turned his back on me.

"I wanted your opinion on something." I nodded and followed him at a respectable distance.

"You know Isabelle better than anyone in Cloister do you not?" I thought for a moment. There was a very careful way to answer this but it wasn't presenting itself through my sleep deprived mind at this moment which was what I desperately needed.

"For a definite answer you would have to ask Princess Isabelle herself your highness. But yes I would say we are close." He nodded and slumped down into his throne again.

"Would you say her feelings for this farm boy are deep or just something fleeting?" In truth I was expecting this but again there was an unattainable clever answer somewhere.

"I would say there are feelings on both sides your highness, however I'm afraid you will have to consult your daughter for her true feelings on the matter. I will ask Jack if you wish." The king looked up at me, surprised.

"I would be grateful for that Elmont." I nodded and there was a silence.

"Was there anything else Sire?" I asked. The king seemed to have forgotten I was in the room.

"No that was all I think Elmont. I just wanted someone close and trusted by Isabelle to lend their views to this matter." I nodded and bowed.

"Well I wish you a good night your highness." He nodded and waved me off without replying or making eye contact.

The fire was still burning in my room, heating the food in front of it, melting the cheese onto the bread but I wasn't complaining. It was food and it was warm and it was making me warm. I had moved my chair nearer to the fire before I left so that was now warm as well, and ever so welcoming when I slid down entirely without grace into it.

**So, any thoughts on this? Leave me a comment or a request of what you might want to see if you want me to continue. Thanks for reading this.**

**El**


	2. Chapter 2

**So I've seen in the other fic about Crawe's family she named him and I think I'm going to stick with what she named him, and also what I've seen Elmont's first name as being later on **

**Elmont POV:**

"Sir Elmont! Are you awake?" I looked round my room at the banging on my door which jolted me out of sleep I grunted out a loud response to the incessant racket and attempted to wake myself up.

It continued as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. "For God's sake I'm awake!" I yelled and the hammering immediately stopped. My eye caught the window next to my bed and I jumped out of my seat, it was already getting light, not so much as to make me late, but enough to mean I was on the last minute.

My neck and back ached something awful, but I guess that was the consequences of sleeping in a chair. Bad time for it too, but it was where I had landed and had been comfortable at the time so I didn't really have much to complain about, at least I had slept somewhere familiar. Some people in the city and the kingdom would have slept in the caverns under the city after their homes had been damaged by the giants, or had slept in damaged houses. It was our job today to restore Cloister to how it was before, at least somewhat so people would have better accommodation while the rest of the restoration went underway.

There was nobody in the corridor when I left my room. I wasn't used to seeing the castle so deserted, it was almost eerie this early in the morning. The only signs that I wasn't dreaming or I hadn't mis-seen the dawn this morning were the noises from outside, the people were already pulling together to make the city great again. It was a heart-warming thought that comradeship like that still existed, that people could still pull together to help those less fortunate in a crisis but sadly only after a crisis. There were still those who had no food and no place to call home and the people who had luxuries to spare just turned a blind eye- myself included admittedly, I did try to help where I could but there were times I was just so busy I barely noticed the people around me.

My men were already beginning to assemble in the market square where we had been last night, some looked like they could have done with an extra day in bed and some were eating while still buckling armour on. "Morning sir." One of the younger lads mumbled sleepily when I passed, I nodded in acknowledgement and passed him.

There didn't seem nearly as many men here as there had been last night. "Where the hell is…" I was about to question the whereabouts of my best friend but the cruel reality hit me again. After a deep breath I carried on. "Where's the rest?" The men around me exchanged looks but nothing was mentioned.

"They're coming sir. A few were in the infirmary last night getting things checked out." I nodded at the man who had piped up. They would be a while if the healers in the infirmary had given them anything remotely strong for pain- they could wipe a man out for days. "Some were making sure their own were alright first though." I nodded again. Any other time I would throw an exasperated lecture about how this was more important as seeing to their own families would come under the re-building of the city and if they wanted to make sure they were alright they should do it in their own time not time I had specifically told them was to be occupied by duty. That didn't matter right now though, they had a right to see to the safety of their loved ones.

The men were now ready and standing prepared to work, we were late getting started, just as dawn peeked properly over the tops of the wall and buildings but they were all determined to spend as little time as possible on this. This worked unbelievably to our advantage, we had made outstanding progress by lunch, the major industries in town had been more-or-less restored, but only basically, their owners could decide what to do with them next. Lunch was a fairly quiet affair, the castle kitchens had provided probably hundreds of loaves and so many types of meat that we could eat simply and easily but in so much abundance that we could satisfy our hunger and still eat.

Our work for the afternoon included the restoration of the rest of the major conveniences in the centre of town but was interrupted by a raucous cry from one of the men working near the edge of the site. It turned out he was welcoming a woman, she was small, delightfully curvy and carried herself like a lady would. From the loud conversations I overheard she was called 'Em', one of my men referred to two 'little urchins' which caused a beautiful smile to spread over her porcelain features and her, I think, black eyes to light up so I assumed she had children. That didn't surprise me one bit, she looked old enough to be married but for some reason unbeknownst to me it caused a small stab of emotion in my chest, it felt like regret but it was too fleeting to analyse properly.  
Her appearance put a slow on the construction while she spoke to various members of my team. By the time she reached me her jovial attitude had diminished somewhat and she looked to be afraid of something.

She curtsied to me and I dipped my head in an amiable greeting, as was propriety. "Sir Elmont, I am here about some of your men, could we walk?" I nodded, a little taken aback by her forwardness, and offered her my arm. My men carried on with their work as they had before lunch while I walked through the city with Em. I treated this as an opportunity to check on the various groups of men working on other parts of the city as well as converse with this woman.

It turned out the men who were missing today were recuperating from injuries of varying levels of seriousness in the infirmary. This woman had been sent by the mother superior who ran it with her convent of nuns and a few other helpers, both male and female, to tell me this. I nodded along to whatever she said and we ended up outside the infirmary but it was obvious she wasn't finished. I sat on the low wall surrounding it and she followed suit, twisting her tartan skirt around her fingers.

She refused to meet my eyes for a few minutes and looked as if she were trying to find the words she wanted to use. "Would it help if I asked what you were so concerned about?" She smiled fleeting at me and brought her hands up to loosen the strings holding her bonnet on her head. I blinked rapidly when a long plait of almost white blonde hair tumbled down to her navel I'm sure. She fiddled with the part of the plait ringing her head and pushed the wispy curls that had fallen into her face behind her ears.

Her eyes met mine cautiously, affording me my first proper look at them. They weren't black as I had first thought, but very dark blue ringed with thick ebony lashes. I held back a gasp when the sun caught her from behind, it shone round her giving her the appearance of an angel. "There is one guardian I haven't seen since you all returned and I would be immeasurably grateful if you could tell me he came to no harm?" My heart clenched painfully. There was only a small chance she was meaning Crawe. "Edward Crawe? I understand he is your second and went with the party up the beanstalk?" I nodded but my eyes lowered from holding hers. She gasped and a hand flew to her mouth.

I looked up and she looked like she was biting back tears if the inchoate glaze in her mesmerising eyes was anything to go by. "I'm so sorry, he didn't return down the beanstalk with us." I didn't have the heart to tell her the exact details of his demise, or that his death had served little purpose.

She nodded and a few tears slipped down her face. I took her hand that had remained on her knee while the other moved to her neat white blouse to retrieve a handkerchief. "Again, I'm so sorry." I murmured and brushed a thumb across her soft knuckles.

She nodded and dabbed at her eyes delicately. "Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later no?" I managed a sad smile at her attempt at lightening the dire situation she was no doubt in.

"Well, I really must get back to the rebuilding." I stood and brushed a kiss over the back of her hand. She nodded and stood to go back inside the infirmary.

I watched her go, immensely confused. She had two children according to my eavesdropping earlier, yet I saw no ring on her finger, despite the age she looked. She had been so good at hiding the majority of her emotions about Crawe's death but it was obvious there was something deep there. It crossed my mind that they might have been together, I knew Crawe was not married and had never even considered it but I also knew he flitted from different women almost weekly, except from a time about three years ago when the girl he had been courting for three years died suddenly. He had been distraught and that had been when the philandering had started again. He no longer stayed most of the week at the barracks but elsewhere in town. He never told me where and I could never find it out.

I made my way back to the re-building efforts with these questions floating around in my head. I knew why he wouldn't have told me if he had fathered a child, he knew my sense of right and wrong would force my views to that of him marrying the girl. But I couldn't help the wish that he would have told me, or that the woman I had just been talking to had shed some light on the situation, had she had these children with him? Somehow that caused another stab of emotion in my chest.

**I cringe at his assumptions. But there's a logical reason for them don't fret. Thanks for reading, please leave a comment, I need them…**

**El**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm very aware I'm AUing ages and some things, but its all in a good cause.**

**Elmont POV:**

Two months since the incident. Two months. Two whole, long months.

I kept expecting Crawe to appear around a corner and rip into me about something, or that I would have to chide him for showing up late to a re-building project. But it never happened.

Tonight was without a doubt going to be one of the most painful nights of my career and possibly life. There was to be a memorial- of sorts- for the men, and even women and children lost in the attack. Oh yes, there were women and children; the ones who didn't reach safety in time and were hit by something. Needless to say I was not looking forward to it one bit.

"No armour sir Elmont?" I looked up as soon as I exited my room. Marianne was stood near my door with a laundry basket. She was a kind middle aged woman about whom nobody had a bad word to say, ever.

I smiled at her fleetingly. "No, I didn't think it was right. Nor did I think it was right to wear my formal uniform." She nodded and turned to walk down the corridor with me.

"But you're still somewhat in uniform." I nodded. I was dressed in my normal black tunic and pants, but without anything showing my rank, only a crest showing my loyalty fastening my cloak around my shoulders.

We stopped when we reached a door that would lead me outside. "Good luck m'lord." She muttered. I nodded in thanks and slipped out of the door whilst she went back to her tasks.

I think, deep down I was hoping 'Em' would be at this tonight; it was a legitimate hope. Although I still had no idea what her relationship to Crawe had been I had caught myself looking for her in town. I had seen her a few times, dressed in black, she hadn't looked well recently and the few words we had exchanged after our talk had been few like she had trouble coming out with them. It puzzled me why I was almost obsessing over a woman I hardly knew and didn't even know her name properly since I never addressed her as 'Em' unless I was wrong.

The cold outside was biting but I didn't pull my cloak around me. The way to the market square was lined with people going the same way as me, there were a lot of Cloister's population that wanted to show their respect and gratitude and rightly so.

The atmosphere was sombre despite all the talking before someone stood up in front of the crowd to speak. It was not going to be me, more than I didn't want to since I couldn't trust my voice if I was the first one to speak I was too preoccupied in looking around and discretely searching the crowd.

'Em' stood out from every other person in the crowd, to me at least. She was dressed in white now with a few splashes of colour, like the ties on her cloak, red matching the little red roses all over it and the subtle trimmings on her clothes being various colours fading from one to the other. I remembered Crawe buying ribbon like that when we were sent to another kingdom for negotiation treaties a while ago, he had probably gifted it to 'Em' when we got back. It did look beautiful on her but she must have been freezing!

I hardly heard a word of what the king was saying when he stood up to speak, the words just drifted past me and occasionally infiltrated my mind. I finally stood to speak, it was a hard task, so many people had lost someone it was hard to offer condolences to so many people in such a public setting. 'Em's' eyes latched on to mine when I took the king's place, she didn't look any better than when I had seen her in town but there were two children with her. Both black haired and very young. The eldest a girl with unbound black ringlets and a very young boy clutching 'Em's' hand. He couldn't be more than three the poor lad.

The crowd started dissipated soon after I finished speaking. 'Em' looked to be having a hard time with both her children, it was only courteous of me to go over and offer my help. "Thank you Sir Elmont. If you could take Jack's hand?" I nodded at her and took the young boy's hand he looked up at me with huge tearful green eyes and held his arms up to me. I looked to 'Em' helplessly and she giggled delicately at me. "He wants you to pick him up. Funny he always seems shy around people he doesn't know. Maybe…" She drifted off and shook her head.

The girl at her side took her attention away soon enough and pulled her down so she could whisper in her ear. "Why don't you ask him sweetheart?" 'Em' muttered back and the young girl looked up at me curiously, my heart skipped a beat, she looked like Rosalynn, but Rosalynn had had deep brown eyes not green ones. Oh good lord…

The girl looked back up at 'Em' who smiled encouragingly. "Who are you?" She asked timidly. I knelt down in front of her and smiled. She tried to hide behind 'Em's' skirts.

"My name is John Elmont. Now what might yours be little lady?"

She smiled nervously at me from behind 'Em's' leg. "Alice. Are you a guardian?"

I fought back a wince. "I am. I'm the captain." Her eyes widened even more.

"Sir Elmont it really is quite cold, I would like to be getting home at some point tonight. Would you care to come with us?" 'Em' asked a little snappily, but she really must have been freezing. I nodded and stood, taking Jack with me.

All the way to where 'Em' lived Alice questioned me. She wanted to know if I had known her papa. When I said I did she asked if I knew him well. I answered he was my closest friend so she was curious as to why she had never seen me before. I had no answer. I got told that Jack's actual name was 'John'. Honestly I have no idea how a name with the same amount of letters can class as a nickname. I also got told that 'Em' was her auntie. Well she referred to her as 'Auntie Emmie' but still it was a step closer to discovering her name.

We eventually reached a little cottage, near the lower class end of town, but still a picturesque little place with a thatched roof. Alice opened the door and held it open for her aunt and me. Em took Jack off me when Alice closed the door, he had fallen asleep partway here and didn't wake up when Em took him upstairs.

Alice pulled me over to the couch in front of the fireplace and made me sit down next to her. "How old are you Sir Elmont?" She asked innocently after a while.

"Alice! You can't just ask people that!" Em gasped when she appeared halfway down the stairs.

I grinned up at her before turning my attention back to my niece. "I'm twenty six. How old are you?"

She smiled shyly and held up a hand. "Five."

"Quite the little lady." I smiled down at her and beckoned her close. "Now tell me a bit about your aunt."

I got a smile in return, almost as if we were sharing secrets. "She's my auntie Emily and she's, she's twenty four I think. But it's her birthday in June." I nodded and the couch dipped slightly behind me.

"Only an hour more and then you're going to bed too sweetheart." Em's voice floated forward and Alice scowled.

"Fine! Sir Elmont when's your birthday?" I smiled, slightly shocked.

"The 31st of March. When is yours?" She looked like she was thinking.

"The 17th of December Ali." Alice looked up at Em and grinned.

"The 17th of December." She announced brightly which made me chuckle.

"So it's only a few weeks away then?" Ali nodded

"Only a few weeks away and I'll be six!" She beamed and bounced in her seat.

We talked for a while longer; I discovered that Crawe had been teaching her her letters but they hadn't got very far so I had for some reason let myself be persuaded to carry on with teaching her.

She wasn't happy when Em took her up to bed, but she went and I was left on my own. I thought about leaving, but that would give me no chance to talk properly with Emily.

"What are you doing?" She re-appeared at the bottom of the stairs, now completely cloak free.

I looked up from where I was knelt by the fire which was now burning merrily. "I was cold and by the looks of things so are you." She smiled and came to kneel next to me on the slightly threadbare rug so her dress pooled around her.

She looked beautiful in the firelight. With her hair gathered at the nape of her neck in an elaborate bun but somehow managing to form a cloud round her head like a halo and her dress floating off her curves like water.

"Does your hair always stick up like that?" She chuckled and reached forwards to touch the front. Her sleeve fell away in two large ruffles at her elbow, each one edged in the strange ribbon Crawe had bought.

I smiled and leaned slightly into her touch. "It does. More so when I just wake up though." I chuckled. She laughed with me and her hand dropped to her lap.

I watched her curiously when she sighed heavily and turned to look into the fire. "He was my brother." She whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear and so choked with emotion that my heart clenched.

"I know. I'm sorry." I whispered back and took her hand. When she looked at me there was anger in her eyes mixing with the tears that she was refusing to let fall.

"You are meant to look after your men!" she snapped and wrenched her hand away.

"I do believe me. The ones who fell from the climb were murdered. I killed the man who ordered their murder after their murderer died the same way as your brother I'm certain of it." Her face pacified slightly at my explanation and she just broke down.

I felt strange, pulling a woman I had just learnt the name of into my arms for comfort but she was a young woman who had lost her brother, she was allowed to be upset.

"I'm sorry. This is inappropriate." She whispered when the tears had subsided and she pulled away from me. I missed the weight of her head on my shoulder or the delightful if light press of her upper body against mine.

I smiled gently at her and brushed her tears away with calloused thumbs. "It's alright. You're allowed to cry." She gave me a watery smile and ran her palms over her cheeks.

"Thank you." She muttered I merely smiled and looked to the fire.

**So how was it….  
Thanks for reading, please leave a comment.**

**El**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to anyone who reviewed/ Favourited/ Followed.**

**So if I get enough reviews this chapter is an indication of what WILL happen between Elmont and Em later, but ONLY if I get enough interest.  
Kind of focusing on Crawe and his family, giving you a little history from Em's point of view.**

**Em POV**

Working somehow was ridiculously hard today. I blame Sir, no Lord Elmont after last night. If my mind wasn't occupied by someone needing my help, all I could think of was how good his mouth might feel against mine, and all over my body.  
When a doctor chided me for being negligent of what I was doing my mind had been filled with very naughty thoughts of an auburn head between my legs.  
The Mother Abbess had asked me if I would help her with setting a man's shoulder when I had been attempting to picture what he would look like on top in bed; sweaty with that ridiculous hair still as it was but maybe falling into his eyes a little, I had come to the conclusion that a groan in that position, I would feel the vibrations against my chest.

They were delicious thoughts and Eddie would have teased me relentlessly if he were to know about them.

I kept catching glimpses of him in town when I was sent on errands. I had spent a while watching while his group hoisted some humungous beam into place, they had all been out of breath and perspiring by the end, the sight of the captain in that state did nothing whatsoever to banish the thoughts of him in compromising situations from my mind.  
He was strong though, he looked muscular but after watching today I had been given a proper look at his strength.

"Auntie Em you promised you would mend my doll!" Alice's shrill cry from upstairs followed by thundering footsteps.

She appeared in front of me holding her doll and not looking in the least happy. "You said you would fix her last week and her arm is still hanging off!" She announced and thrust the rag doll at me.

"I'll fix her then. You go and set the table." She sighed but went over to the dresser to get the cutlery out. "Where's Jack?" I asked quietly after a while and Alice stopped her clattering.

"He's upstairs. He was curled up in bed when I came down here, I think he was crying." She muttered. I held her doll out to her and stood up.

Sir Elmont said he would attempt to come over tonight, he had listened last night when I told him all about Alice and John.

He had known their mother and had known what she had been to Eddie and it had hurt him to find out that she had died while he had been away and that he had missed her funeral. He had been Eddie's consoler when he wasn't with me and had been the one to talk the captain at the time into giving him compassionate leave. He and Rosalynn had been good friends before he introduced her to Eddie, she had said at one point that she would have classed him as her best friend but he had been confused and I think slightly upset that she had kept that she had two children secret from him. I had offered him the slightly comforting suggestion that as she knew all about his morals she didn't want him to be disappointed in her.

Rosalynn had been a maid in the castle and had come to Cloister at the same time as Elmont when they were sixteen from the same little town as him and when he had become close friends with Eddie in the first few weeks the introduction to Rosalynn had followed quickly. They had both often talked about Sir Elmont but I had never heard them say his first name so when he introduced himself to Alice the other night was the first time I had ever know it.

Eddie and Rosalynn got on so well they started courting almost immediately. Rosalynn bought the little cottage and let me move in a few years later when mine and Eddie's father re-married a woman half his age and moved away to her home town. We never knew where they went because we lost contact since we just refused to speak to him. But I was happy with Rosalynn in the little cottage and she was ecstatic when Eddie visited, I always learnt to close my ears to anything that went on when he was home, but after working in the infirmary for a few months by that time it was easy.

Eddie was impossibly happy when Rosalynn told him she was pregnant the first time. They were unmarried but had every intention of getting married at some point, they just never got round to it. The day Alice was born, there was me and only one other in the room, the woman who lived next door, it was a case of who she could trust not to tell anyone since everyone at the castle thought she had fallen ill when she couldn't hide her stomach any longer without possibly harming her baby. Eddie had almost made himself ill out of worry, he had sat outside the door the whole time and when I left the room for hot water and clean cloths he seemed to get worse and worse. Finally when I came out of the room with tears in my eyes he looked like he was about to break down himself but as soon as I smiled his worry cleared and he hugged me tight. I could barely whisper that she had had a girl he was squeezing me so tight. Watching Eddie holding his family was a beautiful sight, he was very nearly overwhelmed when Alice was put in his arms for the very first time. The very first time she had opened her eyes and wriggled against his arms anyone could tell he was lost to rational reasoning, anything that she might want or any problem she might have, it was obvious that he would go to the ends of the earth to put things right and make his little girl happy.

John was another story. There was something not right from the start, Rosalynn had been weak and again there was only the two of us with her while Eddie waited downstairs with his three year old daughter. She had slept through her mother's screams somehow and Eddie had been gone when she woke in the morning. She had been upset that she had missed her morning kiss of her papa and then had decided she was going to go to her mother for one and say hello to the baby like she usually did. I burst into tears and the little girl merely took my face in her hands and asked what was wrong. I could barely get the words out that she now had a baby brother but her mother was an angel. She was almost as inconsolable as Eddie had been and her cried had broken my heart as much as his had.

The tiny boy was named John, as per Rosalynn's request, I had sat in the rocking chair in their room holding their son while she had her very last conversation with Eddie. She had asked him to make his record of birth so that if anything happened to him; I would have Alice and John would go to 'John'. I had no idea who she had been talking about at the time but I had a very good idea now.

Eddie had taken two extra pieces of paper to the vicar who had christened Alice when he went to sort out John's record of birth and sort out getting him christened. The two pieces of paper had been just two signatures, one from Rosalynn since she couldn't sign her son's record and one that I didn't recognise but I had assumed at the time that is was from this 'John' person. I had felt unspeakably jealous of him and slightly resentful to my brother and Rosalynn. It hurt that they would send their son to someone else like I couldn't take care of both him and Alice.

"Jackie are you alright?" I whispered, the little boy was curled up in his bed with his entire body under the duvet. He wiggled like he had nodded and I moved into the room he shared with his sister. "No you're not." I hummed and pulled the duvet off him. He curled as small as he could and buried his face in his pillow. "Oh, Jack come here." I whispered.

It took a while for him to untangle himself from the sheets but he eventually wriggled free to sit on my lap and hold tightly to the front of my blouse. All I could do was hold him tightly while he cried into my chest. There was no doubt that he was not going to be taken away from me, not even if Rosalynn and Eddie had wanted him to be taken in by John Elmont. He had no idea about this since I'm sure Eddie had acquired his signature without his knowledge since he had been away at the time. "You'll be alright." I whispered to the little boy attached to my font. He shook his head and clung to me tighter.

"How Auntie Em? Not got no mama and papa no more!" He cried into my chest. I stroked his soft black hair and attempted to shush him. He eventually looked up at me with red rimmed eyes and tears still streaming down his face. One of them at least should have gotten Rosalynn's eyes, they were beautiful, but no, each of his children had Eddie's hair and eyes.

"I know that sweetheart, but you still have me and I'm not going anywhere." I whispered and brushed the tears away from his cheeks. "And you've got Alice." He smiled slightly. "And your mama and papa are always here." I put my hand on his chest above his heart. His little arms went around my neck and I took that a sign to pick him up.

Downstairs Alice was chattering away happily, I assumed to her doll but it turned out Sir Elmont was sat on the couch next to her. He was helping her to read a book, as he had promised last night. He looked up as soon as I think he heard my footsteps and his eyes became concerned when they fell on John. "He's just upset." I announced and moved past him to the kitchen. Alice had set another place at the table so I assumed she had invited him to stay for dinner. I sat John on a counter top and gave him a glass of milk and went about the final preparations. He watched me while he drank his milk in silence.

Dinner was lively, Alice supplied most of the noise while John just interjected the odd statement or giggle, he was so much like Rosalynn. Sir Elmont could see this too I think since his eyes kept getting distant when they drifted over to him. He barely said much through the meal but he added things to what Alice was saying and laughed with her at some points.

I drifted back into my slightly inappropriate daydreams again, would his laugh sound the same if it were through teasing? And would his grin be that same almost cheeky boyish one after teasing? There were too many naughty delightful images floated around my mind.

He offered to help me wash up after, it would give me a bit of time alone with him to discuss important things so I was all too happy to accept his offer while Alice and John played in the living room. We exchanged warm small talk while we washed up and put away everything we had used. I poured some wine that Eddie had brought home a few months ago and we clinked glasses, exchanging grins. We drank in comfortable silence while I worked out what I wanted to say in my head but as when I had asked him about Eddie, he spoke first.

"There's something on your mind Em." I nodded, showing him would be easier that telling him so I went to the dresser to get the pieces of paper I had found earlier.

"You need to see this. Rosalynn's last request and I think a letter from Eddie." His eyes widened when I put the papers into his hand. His glass went down onto the side while he leant against the cupboard and read. His face contorted into confusion and surprise through Eddie's letter and he looked up at me when he had finished.

"Is this all true?" He asked, I nodded and he went back to his drink. He read through each document several times before looking up at me again.

"I'm his legal guardian now?" He asked, utterly shocked. I nodded.

"Rosalynn wanted it. But Sir Elmont?" He looked up at me with wide eyes. "Please, don't take him away from me." He looked shocked and the joyful sounds from the children drifted through from the living room.

**Thanks for reading, if you want to see them in 'naughty situations' don't forget to review!**

**El**


	5. Chapter 5

**The 'naughty situations' thing still stands.  
I am fully aware of the tense changes in Rosalynn's letter but they make sense if you think it through.**

**Elmont POV:**

"Please, don't take him away from me." I was utterly shocked that she would even suggest that. I had absolutely no idea why Rosalynn had wanted to split them up anyway.

Em looked worried as I put the pieces of paper down and drained my glass. The worry and, well almost fear in her eyes only grew when I crossed the room to her.

She put her own glass down and let me cup her face with my hands when I got close enough and the worry dissipated slightly. "Em, I could never take him away from you and I won't I promise." I whispered. The worry had now completely gone and for some reason I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Her hair smelled of wild flowers and her skin was so soft I couldn't help but linger longer than I should.

"And how many times last night did I tell you to call me by my first name?" I chuckled when I finally pulled away, she smiled and her hands came up to cover mine lightly. "Thank you. Do you want him to know he's your nephew- of sorts?" I considered her quiet question. "It's entirely your decision but if you want him to know then I'll talk to him." She nodded and I moved my hands. I immediately missed how warm and soft her cheeks were but the smile she gave me was just breath taking.

"If it's alright with you, no I don't think he should know. The poor boy already has too much to deal with." She announced. I nodded and she turned back to drain her wine glass.

After washing both of them she turned and grinned at me before indicating to the living room. I wanted to go with her but there were too many unanswered questions. "Why?" I asked quietly. Em looked a little lost but clarity came within a moment with a sad smile. "That would be something you would have had to ask her." I nodded and picked up the pieces of paper. "You need this." I held out the record of birth for Jack and folded Eddie's letter to put it back in the envelope. "Em is there meant to be another note in here?" I asked and pulled out a little wad of paper, slightly tearstained and smudged but with tiny, now somewhat untidy handwriting that I knew so well making it hard to ignore who it had come from.

Em stopped what she was doing and looked at the letter in my hand. "Is that?" She gasped. I nodded. "You're going to want to read that on your own I think." She whispered and left the room. I unfolded the two small pieces of paper with slightly shaking hands.

_-Dearest darling John,_

_I know if you're reading this then something awful happened and I am unspeakably sorry that I never told you, also for getting Eddie to acquire your signature without your knowledge. Eddie has no idea and I couldn't bring myself to tell him. I know I will have a baby boy and he will be named after you since you were such a darling to introduce me to his father. I have no doubt he is the love of my life and he has made me so happy in ways you sadly never saw.  
I wish you could have seen me as a mother, I wish that I could have seen you and Eddie playing with my children, like we used to when we were children on the village green back home.  
Eddie knows I wrote this but doesn't know what is in it- he promised never to read it- but I feel I owe you an explanation; I never told you because I would never be able to bare you being disappointed in me for having children outside of wedlock. Don't try to deny it Elmont, you were brought up to heed old fashioned and strict morals, I know you too well. I had to force Eddie to forbid you to see me when I was 'ill', I know you never wanted to see me in pain so I knew you wouldn't come if I forbid you.  
Yet, if you hadn't left when you did and you weren't missing when John was born I would have sent Eddie or Emily out for you and you would have been told all of this then. But you weren't and you aren't set to return until I am likely to be gone and for that I am again so sorry, sorry that you will return home and one of the first things you will hear is that I am dead and it breaks my heart that this will have to do as a goodbye.  
You will have met Emily, or 'Em', by now, again another person kept from you but that was because she was always so busy, she works at the infirmary and is a favourite amongst what will now be your guardians as I'm sure you will have been made the youngest and definitely the most brilliant one Cloister has ever seen. She is Eddie's younger sister and a sweeter girl, apart from Eleanor, I have yet to meet. I have no doubt you would adore her but Eddie, being a killjoy, forbid me from attempting any matchmaking quite a while ago.  
I know this letter will be upsetting you by now John so I will finish here. I have already asked so much of you and I was such a bad friend at times, which I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for. Yes, Emily is a sweetheart and I have no doubt she will look after Alice as best she can until she joins me and Eddie, but I implore you, you are the only person I would ever entrust my son to. You will look after him like he is your own and make sure he grows up into a proper young man, not completely unlike you but also like his parents- I wouldn't have him any other way, also, and I know Eddie wants this too, you would help him in becoming a guardian when the time came.  
Take good care of my baby boy John, I know I can trust you._

_I love you,  
Rosalynn.-_

"I could never be disappointed in you." I whispered, barely loud enough for even me to hear it.

I should not have read that here. There were tears coursing shamelessly down my cheeks while I just stared at the paper. _"I couldn't bring myself to tell him." _She knew she was dying! How much effort must this have taken her to write?

I looked through the open doorway to the living room, Emily was playing with her niece and nephew in front of the fire where we had talked last night. Rosalynn had wanted me to take care of her son so what was I doing letting Emily keep him? No that was unjust. She had right, she is a blood-relative and I could still take care of him by coming here. It would work. I pulled away from the door when Emily looked up and saw me. There was no way she would have seen the tears on my cheeks from that far away. I brushed them off anyway and took several deep breaths to attempt to calm myself down.

"John are you alright?" Emily's voice drifted through the door and I nodded. "No you're not." She whispered and shut the door. I let myself be wrapped in her embrace and returned it around her waist willingly, being careful not to crumple Rosalynn's letter. Her scent of wild flowers was intoxicating and so utterly enveloping when I leant my head against hers.

We stayed like this in silence for a while with Alice and John's muffled joyful cries adorning the air. "She almost begs me to take him in." I whispered. Emily stiffened and pulled away sharply. "Emily have you read this?" She shook her head and I offered her the papers. She took them and looked over them. Her face dropped when I'm assuming she reached the end paragraph.

"You are the only one she would trust." She stated dead-pan. The papers were thrust back into my hands and she made to storm out of the kitchen but I caught her round the waist. I have no idea why, I could have caught her arm just as easily…

"She did know me for all of her life Emily. She wanted him to have a father figure." She looked at me with absolute fury in her eyes and tried to wriggle out of my grasp. "You promised me you would never take him away from me! You promised in the last hour!" She spat. I flinched at her tone but stood my ground. "And I won't." She stilled and my arm fell comfortably into the dip above her hips and beneath her chest.

She looked up at me through her lashes and allowed herself to be drawn into my chest while my other arm encircled her waist to hold her tighter. "I would never take him away from you. I can still help in bringing him up though, like she wanted." Emily looked at me with wide eyes and reached around her for Rosalynn's last letter. She folded it and put it in it's envelope along with Eddie's, all around my body before sliding her arms up to link them around my neck. "She was the only other person to call me Emily." She whispered.

"I like it. It's so much prettier than 'Em'." She smiled up at me but turned her head sharply to the door which had opened a crack. "And what are you two doing?" She asked happily while her hands moved to rest on my chest, there were two gigged replies and the door closed again. My hands slipped from the small of her back when she slipped out of my arms and opened the door fully. I slipped the envelope into my trouser pocket and followed her into the living room. Alice was sat in front of the fire with the book we had been reading earlier in her lap and she was reading, albeit haltingly to her brother. Em had settled herself in an armchair and was repairing something with extreme care; I think it was one of her blouses.

"Sir Elmont can you help me?" Alice asked quietly. I nodded and went to sit by them. Alice immediately moved to sit in my lap and after a moment John followed. He looked up at me and grinned when I wrapped my arms around them both after a moment's deliberation whether I should. My eyes widened I think when his locked onto mine, they weren't nearly as green as I had thought the other day, there were flecks of dark brown in there as well. "I don't know what this work says." Alice complained and I turned my attention back to her, she was pointing at a word in her book and her forehead had furrowed in concentration.

"Well split it up like we were doing before what is this bit?" I asked and covered part of the word. She thought for a moment. "Be?" I nodded and uncovered a little more. "I don't know." She wined. "But you know the last bit." I assured her cheerfully and uncovered the whole word. Alice stared at it for a while. "The last bit's full but I can't do the middle bit." I chuckled and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "It says beautiful Alice." This only prompted more questions.

"What does it mean?" She asked and John's head flopped against my chest, he was obviously quite bored so I decided it would be a good idea to skate my hands across his stomach. He giggled and squirmed at my tickling and pushed my hand away, still giggling. "It means very pretty. Your mother was beautiful." I muttered. Alice nodded. "And Auntie Emmie?" She asked and looked up at me. "Yes your auntie as well." I smiled and Alice went back to trying to figure out what the words on the pages were. Emily looked up at me and smiled, her cheeks had gained colour like she was blushing but in the shadows across her face I couldn't see properly.

Alice carried on reading, with the occasional bit of help from me until Emily interjected, saying that John needed to change for bed. He protested saying that he wasn't at all sleepy but Emily took him to change nonetheless, he was happy when he came back down fully dressed in pyjamas and I was all too happy for him to settle back on my lap with his sister.

Alice carried on reading until she finished her chapter, half an hour or so later. John was very nearly asleep but at every point Emily tried to take him upstairs he shook his head and clung to me which she thought was especially amusing. I ended up carrying him up to his room, under Alice's direction since she had been sent up to get changed for bed. Upstairs was small, there were three rooms that I could see. The one that I assumed was the biggest at the end of the hall must have been Eddie's and I don't think the door had been opened since he had left the morning we all left. Emily's door was open next to his and the moonlight from the two small windows showed a rumpled patchwork over a few other blankets and white sheets, despite the slightly crumpled appearance it looked like she was a very neat person, almost like myself but I could see a skirt lying on the floor from where it had obviously been dropped. Alice and John obviously shared a room, it was very small and their beds were very small- but they were very small children yet. Alice went to the dresser in the middle of the two beds and rooted for a nightdress in one of the lower drawers. She looked up at me with it in her hands but rushed out of the room to my great relief. I had been a little scared that she would ask for help but she had obviously gone downstairs to Emily. John made small contented sounds when I laid him down in the bed Alice had pointed me to. He curled into his covers and snuggled down so only half of his face was showing.

I sat perched on the edge of his bed for a while, just watching him with a hand resting lightly on his head and my thumb stroking the soft blank waves at his temples. He certainly had his father's sleeping habits; the ability to fall fast asleep in the blink of an eye. But as much Alice was Eddie's daughter, John was Rosalynn's son; with her temperament and graceful quietness. I don't know if a two year old was capable of gracefulness, but John seemed to manage an extremely good version of it.

Alice calling something downstairs called my attention back to now and without thinking I leaned forward to press a soft kiss to John's cheek. He didn't stir and was still curled peacefully when I left the room, leaving the door a little ajar.

Downstairs Emily was chasing Alice round the living room with a comb in her hands. It turns out Alice was refusing to sit down and have her hair brushed. "Come on Ali! I'm not fighting tomorrow morning like I did this morning!" Em was clearly getting tired of this game but Alice was intent on continuing, until she ran past me and I scooped her up easily. She kicked and attempted to wriggle free of my hold but she was only a small girl and I was by far the stronger. "Alice you're going to wake your brother up!" Emily admonished and beckoned me closer to the fire.

Alice didn't give up her valiant fight to escape having her hair brushed, even when I had sat down and there was definitely no way of escape. "Alice if you stop struggling I'll maybe get Louise to part with some of the biscuits I know she's planning on baking tomorrow." She looked up at me in shock. "No John!" Emily gasped from beside me. Alice's face broke into a grin and she held up her little finger. "Pinkie promise?" She asked innocently.

This concept was entirely new to me and Alice could see this so she picked up my hand from where it was holding her waist. I watched while she uncurled my fist and took my little finger, she curled it around hers, absolutely dwarfing it. "Pinkie promise?" She repeated and looked up at me, I was well aware of Emily's disapproving gaze boring into the back of my head. "Promise, just this once though because I don't think your auntie is even happy about this." I chuckled and Alice let my finger go, she was giggling but had stopped struggling and was now sat quietly, allowing Emily to comb her unruly black curls.

I watched while Emily carefully combed her hair and plaited it into two plaits. She secured them both with yellow ribbons, matching the ribbons on her nightdress. Alice stood up and kissed her aunt on the cheek. "Ali, take your dress up." Emily called softly when her niece scampered towards the stairs. She picked it up from the armchair and carried on up the stairs. "Night night!" She called from the top, Emily and I replied quietly and her footsteps moved across the upper floor to hers and John's room.

Emily and I sat in silence for a while until she sighed. "John why would you do that?" She asked. It took me a while to register what she was talking about. "She stopped wriggling." I reasoned.

Emily got up to put the comb away then sat back next to me again. "It's bribery though!" I merely smiled and took her hand, revelling in the softness. "I did emphasise that it would only be one time, and also," I looked at the ground slightly guiltily and met her eyes with some element of cheek. "I happen to like Louise's shortbread biscuits too but she always notices if I'm anywhere near her kitchen when she makes them."

Emily burst into quiet laughter and her other hand came up to run through my hair. "You're just a child at heart yourself aren't you?" I scowled. "No. I just have an appreciation for certain things." I caught my eyes before they could wander down to Emily's torso and beyond. "It's getting late." I muttered and looked out of the window. Emily sighed and her hand fell from my head. "I really should be getting back, I have another early morning tomorrow." They were all early nowadays.

I stood and Emily followed, we stood under the porch for a while, not saying anything much. "I'll come over tomorrow. With the promised bribe." I chuckled. Emily tried and failed to supress a wide smile. I leaned forward to kiss her cheek when I thought the amount of time we had been stood there for had gotten slightly awkward, but the sneaky woman moved her head so a corner of our lips overlapped. She was blushing when we parted and I took my leave, her hand came up to wave when I waved from the turn in the road.

My walk back to the castle was filled with what Crawe might say if he knew I was spending evenings with his sister and children. He would not be pleased, especially if he had already forbidden Rosalynn at matchmaking between us.  
The clever minx! She had been forbidden from matchmaking but her letter to me served as an attempt in itself! I found myself smiling up at the stars and my hand had found her letter in my pocket. Genius woman!

**Thanks for reading, reviews are always nice…**

**El**


	6. Chapter 6

**Emily/Elmont coming up :D**

**Elmont POV:**

It was about time for my talk with Jack, I had put it off for months after our initial talk, his feelings for Isabelle turned out to be true and as firm as hers. It distressed the king to know that his daughter was in love with Jack and he loved her in return but it also comforted him that she would be happy after the amount of strife they had all been through with her engagement to Roderick.

"Have you given my question from months ago anymore thought?" He looked at me blankly. God he was dim at times. But he had been extremely useful in the rebuilding.

"I have, but I don't see how much more of an answer I can give you Elmont. She is amazing and I couldn't love her more really." I nodded and turned back to what we were doing.

"Also Jack, there was something I meant to ask you." He looked at me curiously. We were halfway up a building helping with rigging up a system for easy access to the work going on with the materials. "I am in need of a second, and you are in need of a title if you're going to be courting the princess Isabelle of Cloister." His jaw dropped slightly.

"Elmont really?" I nodded and went back to my task. "Elmont…" I looked up, why did it feel like I was replacing Crawe? "Are you sure about this?" I nodded and his face looked clearly overwhelmed.

"So will you accept my offer?" He nodded, still looking like he was having trouble. "Good, now we must get on with this." Again another nod with the same expression.

"Elmont, why have you really asked me?" I didn't look at him. "Elmont?" I looked up.

"I just told you." He didn't look like he had believed me completely. "Fine, I trust you with my life, I trusted you after our time in Gantua, relatively no time at all and to me, that's one of the most important factors." He nodded.

"Are you sure about accepting this?" I asked after a while. He nodded willingly. "Good. You will need to come with me to his majesty this evening though." He nodded willingly. "And then you will need to talk to him about your courting his daughter." No nod.

"I'm dreading that." I chuckled. "Do you think he will be so bad?" I shrugged.

"I've never attempted seek his permission to court his only daughter." He gulped "Jack don't fret, he has a great amount of respect for you right now." The tension in his face lessened somewhat.

"Will you be there?" He asked quietly. I nodded. "I could use some wise words before I do have this conversation with his majesty." Again I nodded.

"Of course, I couldn't leave you to that." I chuckled. He nodded and we carried on.

Lunch came as a welcome break from being stuck up a freezing building. It was so good to slip a jacket on and have food. I still had to go to the kitchens and swindle a tin of biscuits off Louise, so Alice and I could have a feast of shortbread tonight.

There was a cry of surprise that was quickly followed by many other cries. Jack and I shot up and attempted to see what was wrong. A log had come free from the structure, it was rolling quickly towards us. It was bouncing off anything in its path and coming at us with a massive amount of force. There was absolutely no time to get out of the way so the men around me were trying to get out of its way any way possible.

**Emily POV:**

There had been an accident in town. A huge accident by the sounds of it. I was somehow frantic for John, hoping he was alright and was in no way harmed. Other healers had noticed now on edge I was, some had been laughing behind sleeves but let them laugh, they had absolutely no idea.

The ward where emergency cases were kept was busy, very busy. Each man got a glance while I checked their identity, after each check there was a wave of relief wash over me, then was replaced by a fresh grip of anxiety.

"Oh god John…" I whispered and rushed over to him. He was on the bed closest to the window at the end of the ward where there would be at least some privacy. He was lying prone on the bed, fully clothed and quite pale, there was blood on his head from a cut along his hairline.

His head turned slightly towards me and his hand twitched, I took the hint and rushed to him. He grunted when I lifted his hand up. His eyes opened and found mine. "Hey Emily. My chest hurts." I smiled fleetingly. His face tightened slightly and he looked behind me.

"Miss Crawe, I would be very grateful if you could treat the captain." I nodded at the mother superior and she left us to it. John looked back at me and I kissed his knuckles, eliciting a smile.

"My chest hurts Emily." He moaned. I nodded and pulled the screen round his bed for privacy. "Got hit by a tree." I smiled.

"I'm sure it wasn't a tree John." He grimaced and I helped him out of his shirt. There were so many scars over his perfect torso, and now a hell of a lot of bruising.

"It was a tree. A whole tree Emily. It caught us all off guard." I smiled and prodded his torso. He winced violently and cried out softly at various points. "It hurt." I nodded.

"John you've broken some ribs and badly bruised the rest. You're not leaving your room until I say so." He scowled. "John don't look like that you're going to have to do what I say, for once I'm in charge captain." His expression only soured. "John, please." I whispered.

"Alright. So long as you visit daily." I smiled and stripped him completely of his shirt. There were bandages near so I wouldn't have to leave him.

"I will be by at least three times a day. Morning, noon and night. And if you're a good patient I may bring Jack and Alice with me." He smiled widely but winced when I gently positioned him upright so I could wrap his torso. "Did you manage to get your bribe?" He shook his head. "Alice will be disappointed." He attempted a chuckle but I think the pain got too much because he winced and tensed. "Relax John. You'll feel better." He nodded and laid his head against my shoulder.

"Can you bring them to my rooms later?" I nodded. "Good, because I might go and get my bribe then." I pulled away and took his hands when I had tied off the bandage. "You are not going wandering around the castle." He pouted and I merely smiled. We stayed like this for a while, I was just trapped in his crystalline gaze.

"Do you need help getting back?" He looked thoughtful and nodded. "Right, I'll help you." I kissed his forehead and he helped him on with his shirt. Every movement he made looked painful and was slow.

Our progress towards the castle was slow but it felt good with his arm wrapped around my shoulders and mine around his waist. There were odd looks shot our way when we entered the castle mostly from maids and mostly to me. John and I conversed quietly and I was fully aware of his eyes rarely leaving me, his gaze felt slightly uncomfortable but glorious that someone could follow me with their gaze like that.

The rooms John stayed in were dark and there was a fire smouldering in the grate. He settled on his bed while I made up the fire again. When I turned round he was stripped of his shirt again and was attempting to reach for one poking out from under the coverlet, he wasn't succeeding and it was clearly causing him pain.

"Oh John come here." I sighed and helped him on with his nightshirt. He looked up at me helplessly and my cheeks heated slightly. "Will you need help with your trousers?" He nodded sheepishly. I held back a chuckle and bent to pull off his boots, socks and eventually rid him of his belt and trousers. I had to tear my eyes away from what his nightshirt barely concealed in his underclothes. He didn't seem to notice how preoccupied I was when I helped him on with his sleep pants.

"Thank you." He muttered. I smiled and helped him under the sheets. He looked so helpless, and he didn't like it.

"I'll bring them round later after you've rested. You're going to feel a little stiff and sore though so don't over exert yourself." He nodded and snuggled into the blankets as much as he could. "Goodnight." I called at the door and got a grunted reply which made me chuckle.

**Alice and Jack's appearance and the great escape follows….**

**Thanks for reading and please leave a review…**

**El.**


	7. Chapter 7

**This Jack/John lark is getting confusing. Jack is little John and John is Elmont. Just for clarity.**

**Emily POV:**

"Auntie Emmie which way now?" I smiled at Alice, I honestly had no idea why she had decided to run ahead she had no idea where she was going. I indicated to a door on her right and she pointed to it. "This one?" I nodded and she pushed the door open. There was a set of stairs going up and I almost walked into Alice when she stopped at the bottom of them.

"What are you waiting for sweetheart?" She looked up at me unsurely and then back at the staircase. "It's dark Auntie Emmie." I smiled.

"Well I can't offer you a hand, so you will just have to stay close." She nodded and took hold of my skirt. One hand was clutching a basket full of things to give to Sir Elmont like things to ease any pain he might and a few shirts and trousers that were much easier to get into so he wouldn't have to strain himself, the other hand was clutching Jack's since he wasn't so keen on being in the city- everything was "Big and loud and scary" according to him.

The stairs ended before too long and we came out in the corridor I had been in twice already that day, once when I brought him back and another to check up on him. He had been sleeping peacefully and hadn't stirred when I had brushed some locks of hair out of his face and pressed a slightly longer than necessary kiss to his temple. He looked so harmless when he was asleep, much younger than he was and so much younger than he looked normally. All the worry and stress he obviously felt from his job just melted away.

"Ali, it's this door, can you two wait outside Sir Elmont might be asleep." Jack looked up at me curiously. "Yes Jack?" I asked.

"It's too early for bed time!" He announced after a while deciding whether to say it or not. "I'm not even in bed!" I chuckled and ruffled his wavy hair.

"Sir Elmont had a very nasty accident in town today. He needs to sleep as much as he can but he asked for you two to visit, so he can be awake for a few hours." Alice giggled and clapped her hands joyfully. They had both become attached to Sir Elmont in the last couple of days but I suppose that was easy for them, being so young.

They waited outside the door while I slipped around it, being careful not to let much light in. The fire was still burning behind it's screen and the curtains were drawn at the windows leaving it very gloomy and very stuffy. He was still in bed- thank goodness- but he would need to get up and dressed somewhat. I got a grunt in reply to my gentle attempts to coax him out of his dreams and he just turned his head away from me and carried on.

"John wake up, Alice and Jack are outside." His head turned back to me but his eyes stayed closed. "You have to wake up before I let them in because I need you to attempt something for me." He sighed heavily which caused him to wince but his eyes opened.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked quietly and his voice rasped slightly but that was nothing that a drink couldn't cure. I smiled and let a hand wander to his hair where my fingers twined and played in the auburn strands.

We stayed like this for a second, just locking eyes until a noise from one of the children outside caught my attention. "I need you to try some clothes on. They'll be much easier for you to dress in while you're like this." he nodded and sat up painfully slowly. "Also there's some things for if you're in pain." He nodded and held a hand out to me so I would help him stand. He was in pain, that much was clear but he bore it well while he dressed in the things I had brought from the infirmary.

He looked odd in the clothes the patients at the infirmary wore, but he had managed to get them on by himself and with noticeably less pain than it had taken him to get dressed this afternoon. "Much better!" He sighed when he had tied the loose shirt around his neck. It was a little big, hanging on a shoulder but at least he was comfortable now. "Now, are they outside?" I nodded and put my basket on his dresser. He went slowly to the door while I folded his clothed and put them neatly on the basket he clearly used for laundry. "Em can you open a few curtains?" He asked. It seemed like a fairly redundant question since it was dark outside and there would be little light. "Or find some source of light." That was better, there were candles and lamps in the room so they would have to do.

"Sir Elmont!" Alice had obviously seen him when he opened the door a crack. She flew into his legs, causing him to grunt, I think in pain, but she obviously didn't notice. I had finished lighting lanterns now and was watching since the door was properly open. Jack was hanging back slightly and looking at his sister and John carefully. "Are you alright now?" He asked quietly, John smiled at him and held out his hand that wasn't resting on Alice's head. He took it and John led them both into the room. "What happened?" Jack asked when John sank painfully into an armchair near the fire. Alice climbed onto the other chair and sat swinging her feet happily. Jack looked a little lost until John held his hand out to him and he scampered over to climb up onto his knee while I settled on the arm of Alice's chair.

"Sir Elmont what happened?" Alice asked excitedly and John smiled widely. It caused a little stab of dread, he surely wasn't going to say it was a tree!

"I got hit by a tree today."

"Really sir Elmont? A whole tree!"

"Wow!"

I groaned at the children's amazement. "John!" He looked up at me like nothing was wrong but rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine! It was just a big log." He sighed. I nodded "But a very big log, practically a tree!"

"What happened?" Alice asked, she was amazed by the sounds of it.

"It came free from the building work and went rolling. There's a lot of men like me who are injured." Alice nodded and Jack looked up at him curiously.

"What happened?" He asked quietly. John thought for a while.

"You mean to me?" Jack nodded slowly. "I broke quite a few ribs and I think my chest is, well not chest coloured." Jack looked up at him like he was going to ask another question. "It's all bruised and black and blue." I said, John nodded over to me and then at Jack who still looked like he wanted to know things.

"Where are your ribs?" He asked. Alice giggled. John smiled and tickled his torso.

"Here." Jack giggled but I could only see it ending badly.

And it did. Jack squirmed and his arm flailed to hit John's chest. He stopped abruptly when John blanched slightly and leant forwards slightly while he gasped in what I'm assuming was pain. Jack looked like he was about to cry.

"Jack don't look like that, I'm fine." He gasped when he sat upright. I wasn't convinced.

"No you're not. Jack come here." Jack slipped off his knee and ran over to his sister.

"Sit back John. Breathe deeply." He looked at me like I wasn't serious. "Don't look like that, just do what I say." He smiled up at me when everything started getting back to normal a few minutes later. "Better?" I asked he nodded and I smiled back at Jack who came over slowly. "Be careful sweetie." I whispered to him, He nodded and sat on John's knee tentatively and I returned to the arm of Alice's chair.

"John I'm not made of glass." He muttered. Jack looked up at John, a lot like Rosalynn when she was questioning anyone seriously but laid his head against his chest anyway. "Now, I seem to remember I promised you some of Louise's shortbread biscuits Alice." Alice nodded vigorously.

"No! You're not going gallivanting off the kitchens for biscuits. Alice can last until you are walking competently." I insisted. John merely smiled at me, I didn't like it, he looked too innocent for a grown man.

"I can walk competently Emily." He insisted. I raised an eyebrow and he lifted Jack off his lap. He then hauled himself out of his chair, collected a robe from the stand near the fireplace and walked to the door. "See Emily, I can walk." He went to the door and opened it. "Now are you coming Alice, and John if you want?" He asked, Alice and Jack cheered and skipped over to him.

I watched, utterly shocked. "John no!" I wandered over quickly and attempted to get out of the door but was pushed back by his hand on my stomach. "You can't be serious!" I gasped he merely smiled, leaned forward and kissed me!

He kissed me!

A quick peck on the lips, but he kissed me!

HE KISSED ME!

**Elmont POV:**

"Did you just kiss Auntie Emmie?" Alice asked, I was still staring at the door I had just locked. "Sir Elmont?" She was tugging on my trouser leg.

"I think I just did. Did it look like that to you?" She hummed in confirmation. "Oh dear." I muttered and looked down at her. "Did she look mad?" I asked her.

She shrugged but looked thoughtful. "She looked shocked, like she does on her birthday and she has a nice present." I nodded.

"Well that can't be anything bad can it? Really?" I asked her she shrugged again.

"I want biscuits Sir Elmont." I smiled and pocketed the key that never left this robe, the only reason I picked it up. "As do I Alice. Come on before your Auntie gets irritated at being locked in my room." She took my hand and John took the other they were both cheerful on the way down to the kitchens.

"Capain Elmont! How good to see you!" Louise was a very pleasant slightly plump older middle aged woman and a very delightful woman at that. "Now your visit wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you are a fiendish human being who has taken it into his head that I will have left the product of today's work unguarded?" I smiled at her.

Alice tugged my hand and I felt John shrink back against my leg. "I have not, I am merely of the opinion that you will take pity on a couple of hungry children and a very wounded captain. Being the kind hearted woman you are." She smiled but waved her rolling pin.

"Flattery will get you nowhere." I grimaced and pulled John and Alice in front of me.

"Please." I tried. Louise smiled. "I am in a great amount of pain and some sweet baked goods would…"

"Alright Captain! Now what would these two delightful children be doing with such a despicable rogue?" I smiled and pulled them closer to me.

"Well I suppose you could refer to them as my niece and nephew, Alice and John. You remember Edward Crawe?" She nodded. "They're his children." She looked shocked.

It was amusing to watch her struggle to find the words. "Who's their mother?" She asked and wiped her hands on her apron. My eyes hit the floor. "Do you remember a maid named Rosalynn?" I looked up at her cautiously, her face had fallen into a mask of pure shock.

"Your friend?" I nodded. "Who was being courted by Edward?" I nodded again. "She was their mother?" I nodded again. "They're orphans?" I nodded again and John looked like he was getting upset and Alice had been remarkably quiet for a while. "Poor dears!" She gasped and had crossed the kitchen towards us. "Poor sweet babes!" She gasped and enveloped them both in a hug.

"Sir Elmont how could you never have brought them before?" She admonished when she had let them go and stood up.

"I never knew about them until recently. Rosalynn never told me and neither did Edward." Louise looked at me and her shock increased. "Oh my. But you said you had been injured?" I nodded.

"He got hit by a tree!" Alice piped up. Louise looked at me like Emily had. "It wasn't a tree, it was a very big log, I trust you heard about the accident in town today?" She nodded and her jaw dropped but she hung back.

"Oh dear! I won't give you a hug since that will only make things worse if you're injured where I think you're injured, but I think, for one time only, since you were knighted I will give you what you came for. Just this once though." I nodded and pushed Alice and John forwards and they followed Louise into her huge store room.

"Now my doves, what would you really like?" She asked cheerfully and rubbed her hands together. I chuckled and let Alice wander over to her while John shrunk closer to me.

"Some of those biscuits you baked today would be nice Louise." I supplied, she reached for a box and opened it. She brought out some biscuits and put them on an open cloth nearby. "And what I know is in there." I pointed to a tin next to the box of shortbreads. "Do you know the content of my storeroom better than I do?" Louise turned to me, obviously amused, I merely smiled widely.

"I know what I like and I know what you keep them in, shamefully." I laughed, it probably wasn't a good idea since my chest began hurting to ridiculous extremes. I was pitied and the raspberry buns I had been hinting about were added to the biscuits on the cloth but Louise was in a charitable mood and brought down a plate full of beautifully iced miniature cakes. Each of us were allowed to choose one but my choice would go to Emily as a peace offering.

We were bid a warm farewell by Louise before she continued her late night baking Alice carried the cloth with extreme care while John had not let go of my hand and had not said anything since we left my room before.

My room door's lock clunked when it slipped open. I braced myself for the onslaught of what I would no-doubt face, one for locking Emily in my room and two for running off with her niece and nephew. But it was all quiet when we went back in. Emily was sat on the armchair she and Alice had been sat on before, she was just staring at the fire and watching the flames. "Emily, are you alright?" I muttered and went over to her. Alice placed her parcel on the table in between the chairs and looked up at her aunt.

"I'm fine. More than fine." I nodded and took the cake I had chosen for her. She looked at it carefully when she took it off me before taking the sugar flower off the top to nibble on. "John…"I hummed and looked at her where I was sitting down across from her, with John on my lap again. "Why?"

"I wanted to." I muttered and Alice handed me a biscuit. "I think I've wanted to since I first met you." She nodded and carried on with her flower, leaving little sugar granules on her lips which somehow I couldn't take my eyes off while Alice, as usual found something to witter about, providing some joyful background noise.

**Thanks for readying, please review/favourite/follow whatever you want…**


	8. Chapter 8

**Now that I need to knuckle down for exams, I will actually only be updating one fic a week so that means updates will be fort-nightly, but I will actually be updating regularly unlike some people, she knows who she is and she knows why I'm putting this. : **

**Elmont POV:**

True to her word, Emily had been by three times a day for the past three weeks, she had accompanied me outside so I could actually do what I was paid to do and check on how the work on Cloister was coming. It was coming along very nicely and work had been started on the castle, the stalks had been removed by the giants and disposed of in their world but there was still the one that had fallen first, I really had no idea but I had the suspicion it had been used to power the furnaces in the city and would be used for a while yet in order to save wood.

John was left with me most of the time, at his request, while Alice went with her friends around Emily's cottage. He was delightful company and I was starting to- shamefully- rethink my promise to Emily to keep the children together. John accompanied me to the kitchens every morning for food as Emily almost always appeared with him before it was properly light when he was sleep blurred and without giving him breakfast. Louise tended to give us nicer things for breakfast if I had John with me and I had missed breakfast because I was sleeping to help my injury. Alice would eat with her friends when she woke and the woman who always sat with her –who had a young girl about the same age- made breakfast for herself, her own daughter and Alice.

"John take this." I glared playfully at Emily. She was holding a beaker of some repugnant liquid that was supposed to make the pain better but before it did that, it made me gag and heave which only made the pain worse.

"I'd rather have the pain if I'm honest." She rolled her eyes and pushed the beaker closer to me. "No, it's vile. Couldn't you add something sweet?" She shook her head.

"It would affect it's effectiveness." Of course it would. "Now stop being a child and take it." I grimaced and took the beaker.

"That wasn't so hard was it?" She asked when I gave it her back. I got a barely held back giggle when I nodded my head, still with my mouth full.

It took me a while to get over how foul that liquid tasted and finish retching while Emily ran a hand comfortingly over my shoulder. But I did and got a beautiful smile in return when I grinned up at her. "Where's John?" I asked and looked around, I hadn't seen him at all this morning since I was still sat on my bed from when Emily had woken me up.

"He's curled up on one of the chairs. I don't think he slept much last night, he's so tired." I nodded and let her help me on with my shirt, a normal shirt now that I could move better. "You're good to go John, just as usual be careful." I nodded and stood. She welcomed my kiss on the cheek but it only got that far. We had only gone that far since I had kissed her weeks ago, for a few days after it had been awkward but we had quickly fallen back into how we had been before with chaste tokens of affection.

"Are you coming back this afternoon?" I asked when she flounced over to the door.

"No, I'll be back this evening though, perhaps with Alice." I nodded, it had been Alice's birthday a few days ago but if Emily brought her today then it would be the first time I had seen her in almost a week. I had been busy with some foreign diplomats and dignitaries when it was the seventeenth and too exhausted to see her that night, John hadn't been with me that day either and Alice always seemed to be elsewhere when Emily came to check on me in the evenings and take John home.

"Have a nice day." I chuckled, it hurt as usual but a lot less than it had been doing. She blew me a kiss and slipped out of the door. Now to retrieve my little nephew from his nap.

He was indeed curled up on an armchair, more specifically my favourite armchair out of the two near my fire. He was curled up under his furry cloak with only the top half of his face uncovered, I had come to the conclusion a while ago that this was his preferred way of sleeping. "John, time to wake up." I muttered and pulled the cloak down so all of his face was showing. He just swatted my hand away and attempted to roll over. It didn't go well and he ended up squirming off the seat. He looked up at me from the floor, utterly confused and still half asleep, I smiled and reached down to pick him up which he welcomed and wrapped his arms around my neck. "I trust you had a nice sleep in my armchair?" He nodded sluggishly against my shoulder and yawned. "Tired?" Another sluggish nod. "Well you can't really sleep today I'm afraid. We need to get your sister's birthday present wrapped and I need to go into town. Are you hungry?" He nodded and yawned.

Our way to the kitchen was full of bustling people and the general buzz of the castle, not many people questioned the child attached to my neck as the story about Rosalynn and Crawe had spread quickly through the castle but what amazed me was the fact that people overlooked the fact that they were illegitimate simply because they felt sorry for them. It was wonderful not to hear anything against my two closest friends but to hear people doting on their children.

As usual, Louise lavished anything remotely sweet and unhealthy on us. She waved us off cheerfully when we left and went back to dictating over her realm.

John had fallen asleep on me by the time we got back to my rooms, it wasn't uncomfortable having him as a dead weight handing onto my side but it wasn't the most comfortable of things, especially since he was pressing on my side. "John, you need to let go of me now." He moaned and clung to my neck tighter, definitely has his father's sleeping habits, a stampede could never have woken him up. "Come on, you're hurting my side a little." He moved off me a little so the pain wasn't as bad but he still didn't show proper signs of waking up. "John you're not going to get breakfast since I'm going to have eaten it all." The worked and he let me put him down on the floor. "Now what do you want?" He chose a pastry bigger than his head and scrambled up onto my lap when I had chosen mine.

"What we doing today?" He asked around a mouthful. I smiled and finished mine. "I told you before." All I got was an innocent look in return over the ridiculously large piece of food in his hands. "We are going to check on the building work going on in town which you're not going to tell your aunt because I'm not mean to be out on my own." He nodded and took another bite. "We also need to get something to wrap your sister's birthday and Christmas presents and something to wrap yours, your aunt's too and I also have shopping to do for my family." He nodded and went back to his food.

"What've you got me for Christmas?" He asked after a while when I had finished and was attempting to get something else. "That would be telling John and I don't want to spoil your surprise." He sighed but left it at that. "Where's your family?" He asked again after a while. "At their home where I grew up. Where your mother grew up too." He looked up in surprise. I know he knew I knew his mother very well but I don't think he knew we had been childhood friends. "What's it like were you grew up?" I smiled. "Very pretty. Even more so at this time of year. I usually go back for Christmas but I can't this year." He nodded. "I want to see it." He announced which actually caught me by surprise. "I can take you when you're older and can ride if you want?" He nodded vigorously, making me smile widely.

* * *

Our day in town had been an amazing success and we had gone completely undiscovered by Emily. She only thought I had gone out in the evening to take John home since she was extremely busy and was finding it difficult to pick him up herself.

"Sir Elmont!" Alice was joyful about me turning up in their living room carrying her dozing brother who had fallen asleep again before I had even left the castle. She was quiet while I miraculously managed to get him changed for bed and into bed, again with a gentle kiss to his temple.

Emily had made an appearance when I went back downstairs, she was just taking her cloak off and hanging it up. "Hello John, was he good today?" I nodded. There were more wisps of hair than usual falling from her braid and she looked more flustered than she usually did.

"He was delightful, how was your day?" I asked while I flopped onto the couch. Emily sank down next to me and reached for the tie holding her braid together. I watched while it came undone and fanned out around her head in tight curls right down to the bottom of her stomach. I barely registered anything she said but was focusing more on how delightful and more like an angel than ever she looked.

"John?" I snapped out of my little dream word and looked at her closely. "He wasn't too tired today was he?" I shook my head, I had intended to talk to her about him staying with me for longer but all sense seemed to have left my head.

"Sir Elmont you missed my birthday." Alice had climbed up next to her aunt and was glaring at me. I smiled in apology and got up to go to my satchel where her present was. "I didn't I just couldn't get your present to you." I smiled and handed her the neatly wrapped parcel. It didn't last long, in a flurry of paper the book I had found on the market a while ago had appeared and she was looking up at me with a magical smile on her face. "It was your mother's childhood favourite and I thought that since you've been getting so good at reading you might like it." I smiled. Alice climbed over her aunt's knee and hugged me tightly until Emily pulled her away for fear she might hurt me. The little girl was still smiling widely and she kissed my cheek before retreating off to a corner with her book.

"That was very generous of you John." Emily smiled and got up to get more wood for the fire from the back of the house. Being a gentleman I followed to help, Alice couldn't get into trouble if she was innocently reading and John would not be waking up any time soon.

"How are you?" She asked once we were completely alone and leaned on the wood pile. "Never better, well perhaps aching a little but much better." She smiled. "I'm glad." She almost whispered. Again all intentions of talking to her about her nephew disappeared out of my head when she turned to me properly. In the moonlight she looked practically elfin.

I moved closer to her when she shivered lightly. Emily seemed to welcome the new closeness and even tilted her head up to look at me in the eye. "You're stressed." I observed, she nodded and my arms travelled to her waist as if it was a natural reaction. "My job. There are many men in this city not nearly as compliant and self-reliant as you are." I grinned and her hands travelled up my arms to my shoulders. "And they should count themselves lucky to have such a beautiful woman taking care of them." I had called her beautiful before but it had been fleeting and not brought a reaction like this out. She ducked her head slightly and looked up at me through her lashes, a sight with I have to say I found extremely endearing. "Do you?" She asked. I nodded. "Quite lucky and quite blessed." I muttered lowly, making her blush and meet my gaze again.

I have no idea how long we stood there and no idea who had gotten closer first but it had happened and soon our foreheads were touching. Her gaze flickered down to my mouth and then back to my eyes, she seemed to be embarrassed at getting caught hinting at where she hoped this was going but as usual I was good at acting on hints and lifted a hand to cup her face and slide into her glorious blonde curls.

Her lips were just as soft as the always were and delightfully warm in the winter air. Her mouth moved slowly and tantalizingly against mine, all softness and sweetness and entirely Emily. She moaned slightly when my arm encircled her waist and pulled her closer but she was hesitant in pulling herself closer with her arms around my neck but it was a closeness I revelled in when she finally did it.

Emily pulled away first and rested her head against mine, she was out of breath and her cheeks had become delightfully rosy. "I've been waiting weeks for that." She gasped, making me smile and peck her lips quickly. "I've been waiting to do that for months." I muttered making her giggle. "Would you object to me doing it again?" I asked, she shook her head and willingly tilted her face up to give me better access.

Alice hadn't moved when we finally got back into the living room, she was still working diligently through her book and barely noticed us bank the fire back up.

**So a proper kiss. Thanks for reading.  
Review, follow, favourite.**


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